Train-announcing apparatus



March 10, 1931. w. L. WARD TRAIN ANNoUNcING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed April 22, 1927 @Zw @J i Wwf/@fg March 10,'1931. w. WARD V TRAIN ANNOUNCING APPARATUS 4 Sheeis-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 22, 1927 E F J f r f o o o o. o o p o o o o o o o o o o QN) o o "HH. o o Qx. o o o O o c o O U o o o o o nv o o o o o o o Q ,Q o In m6 m, M. mm D E" v E mm. whim D R D G 0 0 O O O O 0 O O D D 0 O 0 O 4 um l@ o G .will

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March '10, 1931. W WARD 1,795,748

TRAIN ANNOUNCING APPARATUS Original Filed April 22, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet` 5 March l0, 1931. w. WARD TRAIN ANNouNcING APPARATUS Original Filed April 22, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ai im @CJPFO GOT QW v mi 105m No: new

Patented Mar. 1ro, 1931 innerensrAIPE-js,4

PATENT ortica WALTER Il. Wann, or" WHEELING, wE-sfr VIRGINIA, AssIGNoR- or ONE-HALF To GEORGE J. ROGERS, oF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA TRAIN-ANNOUNCING APPARATUS Original application filed April 22, 1927, Serial No. 185,881. Divided and th 16, 192,7L Serial No. 240,443;

' This invention is concerned with the provision of mechanism for visually announcing the departurev of trains asset forth 1n my original application Serial No. 185,881, A@li-pril 5 22, 1927, and the subject matter of the present application constitutes a division? thereof. (lne of the objectsof my invention is to provide mechanism for displaying complete information about each train and indicating Y 1@ the gate and route leading to the train which is about to leave.

y Another object is` to provide mechanism which will visually display, for a conveniently longtime before the departure of any isv given train, complete information about the train, that'is, the particular railroad, the ultimate destination, track number, time of de- Lpaiture., and the en route stops.- l

A further object is to provide a panel or k2o board of such design that all necessary infor- 25 of the apparatus constituting my invention.

rlhe essential characteristics are summarized in the claims. y y

inthe drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the illuminable panel and the control'board "f gso associated'therewith; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 2-7-2 ofFig. 1, showing a partial,transversepsection of the panel; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the panel Y showing the driving mechanism forv changingthe legends ,displayed thereon; Fig` 4 isa horizontal section looking downwardlyV on the panel along the plane 4.-4 of Figl; Fig. 5 is a section taken along theline 5%-5 in F ig. 4 showing a single driving gearing fla with `latch and securing mechanism-associated therewith. j y n f l Referring particularly to Fig. 1, I indicate at 10 a panel section carrying a'permanent legend to wit, Train leaves for, Track 5v and Stop at. The other information shown vat 11, 12, 13,14 and l15 is adjustably positioned to appear upon .the given panel section to designate a particular train. Thusat 15,.

by suitable initials the` name of ther-ailroad appears; at 11, the.- ultimate destinationA fof is application ledDecenrber the traing'at 12, the hour of departure; at 13, the track number; and at y14, the various intermediate stops to be made by the train.

In F ig. 2 appears more clearly the construction of the apparatus by means ofwhichthe ylegends shown in Fig. 1 are presented. rilh'e panel is shown as constituting suitable frame workr 1 and an ap-ertured forward wall 2 in vwhich glass panel sections 3 may be positioned, The legends 111 and' 14 appearing in -Fig 1 are shown tobe carried-on the belt 11a and the chain conveyor 14a, though the legend 11 could be removably aiiixedtor thel glass 'y panel section 3 and the belt y11a omitted;

The belt 11a if employed is carried and di? I rected by suitable rollers or shafts20, and is driven preferably by the shaft 21 near the y rear of the panel structure. This belt Vmay lcomprise a wide endlessgstrip shown also in Fig. 4 which may bestenciled-to carry the legend appearing onk the lface of the panel,

lSuitably disposed behind the glass port-ion s of the panel section is a bank of lights 50 with j a suitable reii'ector andy connections for illuminating: the legend. This' belt carries gearing 2,4, by the shaft 25 which extends toV the front wall-of the panel into an aperture 261in the wall. The forward end of the kshaft 25 may have a square shank which lies in the aperture 26, so that va crank mayl be fitted thereon fory rotating the shaft andbringing the appropriate legend to register with the y panel-section. f The legend Lshown at 14 in Fig. 1, which designates the `intermediate stopst'o befmade by` a particular trainya-re successively presented in groups similar to those shown;l The belt' or chain 14acarries a plurality of light boxes '40,l shownfalso -inFig 3 in which remov- 'ableslides 41 are positioned, which carry the desired legends. Lights 51v are carried in each boX.l Contacts for each boX are carriedV at 52-,v-while`ixedcontacts 53 are carried on the `fixedshaft 30, or other suitable supp ort sothat the circuitsy are established only for a'boX-W-hen itis `positioned behindapanel sec-v tion. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the slides 41 of the boxes may be conveniently lettered with the names of about three stops, and I have provided switches within the box (not shown) so that one or more of the portions of the box may be darkened if a particular stop is to be omitted. The boxes are carried on the chain 14a by suitable links 31, which may have a slotted connection as at 32 to allow for the variation caused by angular displacement as the chain advances. rFhe chain is carried by suitable sprockets 33 and 34. They sprocket 34 may be loosely mounted on a fixed shaft 30, and sprocket 33 may be keyed to the shaft 35 and be driven thereby. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, I show shafts 35 suitably journalled in the frame, each shaft carrying a bevel gear 36.

A suitable driving motor M carries a pinion 41 to drive a ring gear 42, which may be carried on suitable anti-friction bearings 43. Keyed to the ring gear 42 is a vertical shaft 44 supported on a suitable bearing 45.

The motor is adapted to run continuously so that the vertical shaft 44 continuously revolves. I desire, however, to present the light boxes intermittently behind the panel sections, and to allow them to remain behind the section for a given length of time, and then advance the next adjacent box so that the legend carried by it, is pre sented for a similar length of time. In this manner all of the intermediate stops of a given train are presented in groups of two or three in spaced succession. As long as a particular train is being announced in a given panel section, this information is being continually presented. Segmental gears 46 are secured to the shaft 44 and are adapted to mesh with the bevel gear 36 thereby intermittently driving the shafts 35. Thus each of the boxes is carried to its forward or exposed position and permitted to rest in that position while one of the segmental gears 46 completes a revolution. It is lthen again advanced as the segmental gear comes into mesh again.

As pointed out above, when a particular train is being announced, current is supplied to the contacts 53 and each of the light boxes V40 are supplied with a current vthrough contacts 52 when the box arrives in exposed position. 'Io be certain that the box is stopped in registration with th-e panel section and that contact is maintained at the points 52 and 53, I provide a. locking mechanism, shown in Fig. 5, for each one of the shafts 35. An indenture 37 is provided in the back of the bevel gear 36 and a cam surface 47 is 1provided on the periphery of the segmental bevel gear 46. A dog or latch 48 is resiliently urged into the indenture 37. The dog is engaged by the cam surface 47 so that the shaft 35 is permitted to rotate only when being positively driven by the segmental gear, and the shaft is held in fixed position as soon as the dog 48 is released by the cam 47 to enter the indenture 37. Y

Referring again to Figs. 1 and 4 and to thev indicia indicated at 12, 13 and 15, that is, the initials standing for the name of the railroad, t-he hour of departure and the track number. These indicia are presented by lettered belts 12a, 13a and 15a. The belt 13a is mounted on suitable rollers or Vshafts including the shaft 13b, which is driven through suitable gearing by a shaft similar to the shaft ,35 mentioned above, which may have a suitable shank on the forward end and which may extend into an aperture 130 on the forward wall of the panel so that the belt may be advanced in a manner similar tol the advancing of the belt 11a. The belt 12a is provided with a driving shaft 12b andv is driven through suitable beveled gearing and the shaft 12o in a similar manner. Belt 15a is driven in a similar manner through shafts 15b and 15o and bevel gearing as shown. All the shafts extend through or to the face of the panel, see Fig. 1.

Having described the mechanical structure of the device it can be seen that for any particular panel section indicia may be presented to identify the train and to designate the stops made by the train between the point of departure and the ultimate destination. The visibility of this indiciais of course, dependent upon the illumination provided by the lamps 50 and 51 and other suitable lamps at the ends of the pan-el sections not yet designated, that is, the lamps that illuminate the' section portions 12, 13 and 15. It may be further borne in mind that after the motor M has been started, the light boxes 40 are continuously, though intermittently moved, by means of the segmentalg-ears. As long as the particular .panel section is dark nothing will appear in that section nor will a particular light -box make its legend visible unless the light thereinbe illuminated.

VIn operation the operator will vadjust the belts 11a, 12a, 13a and 15a to present the desired legend'for a particular train, and will arrange the slides 4l in the light boxes 4() so that the intermediate stops by that train will be presented and illuminated. The mechanism just described will then present boxes 40 intermittently to the spectator, and allow themv to remain in this position for a brief interval, that they may be read by the spectator and then advance the next vadjacent box so that the legend carried by it is presented for a similar length of time. In this manner all the intermediate stops of a given train are presentedin groups of two or three in spaced succession. As long as a particular train is being announced, this information is continuously displayed.

It will be understood from the above description that the motor is preferably operated continuously, thus progressing the va- `rious belts with perio-ds of rest during the all the switches in a switch board indicated at S in Fig. l and connected by a suitable cable with the-various circuits. ln this manner, an operator at the switch board may readily cause the display of whatever legends are desired. .l f

l claim:

l. ln an electric sign, the combination of a plurality of sign pan-el sections, each section of which is ada ated to contain information distinguished from that presented in the other sections, permanent legends marked on each section, a plurality of endless belts disposed behindeach section, said belts being lettered or stenciled, means for throwing light through the lettered or steneiled portions of the belts, means for positioning lthe beltsto present different letters or. symbols, an endless chainv conveyor for each section and disposed behind the panel section, a plurality of light boxes carried by said chain conveyor, which is adapted to present one light box immediately behind the panel section, removable lettered or stenciled signs carried by each of the boxes, means for establishing a light circuit in a light box whenit is inposition behind th-e panel section, meansy for holding the` bo-x in position, means for driving said chain conveyor to advance the light boxes, said means including bevelled gears, a shaft, a motor `for continuously driving said shaft, a plurality of segmental gears secured to the shaft and adapted to mesh with the bevelled gears for part of each revolution of the shaft, means associated with the bevelled gears for driving the chain conveyors when said bevelled gears are driven, the segmental gearsbeing so placed that they mesh at different times with their corresponding bevelled gears, whereby all of thev light box-es are intermittently advanced and Y successively presented.

2. In an electric sign having a display panel, a plurality of endless conveyors exrlending behind the panel, boxescontaining lamps carried by the conveyors, fixed electrical contacts positioned near the panel, contacts carcurrent to the lamps in the said boxes, means for intermittently driving said conveyors to advance the light boxes at different times including a continuously rotating shaft and .differently placed segmental gears carried thereby, and means for maintaining registration between contacts when the conveyor is not being driven.

3. ln an 'electric sign comprising a plurality of independently displayed panel sections, an endless chain conveyor for each section, a'plurality of stenciled or lettered boxes carried by each chain conveyor, the said conveyor vbeing adapted to present one of the stenciled or lettered boxes at a time in registrationwith the display panel section, means for driving the said chain conveyors, said means including bevel gears, a shaft, a motor for continuously driving said shaft, a plurality of segmental gears secured f to the shaft and adapted to mesh with the bevel gears for part of each revolution of the shaft, means associated with the bevel gears for driving the chain conveyors when said bevel gears are driven, the segmental gears being so placed that they mesh at different times with their corresponding bevel gears, whereby all the lettered boxes are intermittently advanced and successively presented.

ln testimony whereof, I hereunto aix my signature. i

' WALTER L. WARD. 

